Movements of shadows multiplied by the misleading and convincing force

of the moon.

Once just before the dawn, her child whispered to her: Mummy, mummy look!

In the corner of the room, two mice were dancing holding eachother by the paws, making small steps to the left and to the right and then round and round and the left and back and forward.

She shuddered thinking about situations and events which are not caused by decision or even mistake and looked through the window: the snowing started again, quick and tick snow.

The next day somebody knocked at the big, heavy wooden door and from the snow curtain emerged a face of a man.

The child asked: Who is this man?

Your father, my child

Now he is gone again.

But now the nice weather is making things easier.

Enjoying in the sun,

she can recognize each individual plant and

insects’ paths are very clear.

Deeper layers of solitude.

The new war hasn’t arrived yet, the old war hasn’t disappeared yet, to these ladscapes too far away and padded up in high mountains.

Bathed in pleasant heat and evaporation of the vegetation, eyes half open,

It could have been felt that something was coming, but at this moment

There is still enough time before the events that

Will divide life of the people in before and after.

(hills under the snow and dark trees, one week not shaved beard-that is how the landscape looks like. he didn’t shave his beard nor cut his hear for forthy days*)

This day is going to be too long

She felt that from the dawn,

and decided to visit her parents who lived

on the other side of the mountain.

The path passes trough the big wood.

The young do not care about old women’s stories

About animals and humans

About dark needs and creatures

About those poor souls who saw naked self-happening of the world

that changed their god given destiny.

She was young and strong.

So she went

Through juicy grass holding her child.

Sky was so blue, so big, so close and full of insects and birds.

(we think that he killed the cat. he is saying that the cat knew all. that the cat had a premonition. he is pretending that he doesn’t know anything about it. like the cat escaped because she eas eating so much that she become ungrateful and went to find something better. and he is alluring the cat all the time and he is talking about it all the time. He knows that he is annoying, he is waiting for the motive. we are silent and we can hardly wait for him to go out.)

The wood is becoming older.

Light sprout bushes

started to be replaced with

old big trees

and grass

with bronze dead leaves:

crumbling under the feet.

Instead of cheerful birds some strange birds

were singing in different voices.

The sky is yellow and low.

Tufts of fog winding among the trees.

Drops of moisture caught in spiders’ webs

Like diamond jewels thrown away across the wood.

(he is outside shouting at goats and throwing snow at chickens. he is old and slow. something is dropping on our heads. Meet hung on hooks is drying and fat is drooping down on the floor or on the hair. we think we hate him. feet are constantly cold in the rubber boots. in the afternoon I was going for a brutal walk because I ate more bread than I should have.)

It is much darker now.

Half opened mushrooms whiting on the ground.

There were no insects.

The different birds were announcing their presence

shrieking in half-human voices.

The river was lauder as she was approaching it.

In spite all the scary stories she felt close to this wood and this river.

Every time she would passing through

She would wet her hands and face and drink some of the water.

Then she would close her eyes and think about things

That she was wishing for, and for each wish

She would throw one pebble over her head back into the water.

(then we were sunbathing leaned on a rock not covered by the snow. eyes are closed-geometrical shapes and colours of the sun and the snow and that could last forever. at that moment we were fond of him and we felt sorry for him. mother said: on the other hand I do understend him, since she is gone, there is nobody there to serve him, his world is terrifyingly different.)

She closed her eyes, made a wish,

and throw a pebble over her head into the water.

She smiled opened her eyes and

It appeared to her that she saw somebody a little bit further down in the wood.

No it is nobody.

Here, now there is nothing

just a patchwork made from light and shadows.

She closed her eyes again,

changed her wish holding tightly her child

and throw the pebble, opened her eyes….

Yes! Definitely somebody is hiding behind that tree.

The only visitors around here are bit lost peasants or hunters

and they are not dresses up like this.

And they don’t hide!

They would say good afternoon and keep on with their business.

was more scaring than all the stories she have ever heard!

A man in a suit and a hat in this wilderness,

was more scaring than all the stories she have ever heard.

The border is close.

She knew well that when somebody desert the usual path or is persistent to expose something that is hidden

That individual becomes involved in horrifying course of events.

That somebody is being pushed directly on the front line where forces

which are forming our universe

are weighting up their strength.

There a person is just a mouse dancing silent dance, on the music that somebody else hears.

She will pretend that she didn’t see him.

Slopes under the fresh green moss

Musky smell of the wood

Don’t worry he wouldn’t harm us, she was whispering to the child cheering up herself as they were getting closer and closer.

The forest path was leading to the tree, if she leaves the path, he would know thet she saw him.

The stranger in the hat was moving slowly around the tree as she was approaching through the path semi turning around the tree.

One her step ahead

One his step behind

One her step ahead

One his step behind

She was pretending that she wasn’t watching but she could see by the corner of her eye his movements around the tree.

He knew that he was seen.

And she knew that he knows, he wasn’t completely hidden.

They were just following the rules of this weird game:

You are like hidden, I am like not seeing you.

I am like hidden, you like not seeing me.

I will not hurt you as long as you are clearly showing that you are not interested in what am I doing here.

They were there forever, the time was frozen.

Yellow changed sky, without insects and birds.

Steady sound of the river.

She could see clearly turquoise lichen on the rocks and tiny fractures in the bark of the trees and fast ants going up and down.

Co-editor of supernovapoetry.net (within Auropolis Art organisation http://www.auropolis.org ), one of three editors-in-chief of the long term Web streaming poetry project (11 9 / Web Streaming Poetry, anthology is part of it). Author and presenter of radio show&art platform (http://nofm.rs/ )